Creativity vs. Readability (i.e. Looks nice but what does it say?)
Something to think about when composing emails…
Some folks like to express their creativity when sending emails by choosing “non-standard” fonts.
Below is a screen shot of some fonts I’ve seen used in emails. They all started out as size 12 font but the blog template is shrinking the image horizontally so click on the examples to see the image normal size.
(the last one is my default font)
While some fonts are still pretty easy to read, some are more difficult. If you had to read something long and complicated, it could be down-right frustrating.
While creativity is great, we don’t want to sacrifice readability. The reader of your emails is less likely to spend the time reading your message if it is difficult to read. The difficulty can be increased when a “busy” background is also used.
Some people may think that their email will stand out and be more likely to be read if it looks different (i.e. different font) but with so many things competing for our attention, emails that are harder to read are actually less likely to be read fully.
So thank goodness for creativity. The world is a much more interesting place because of it. Just be aware of how it affects the readability of your messages.
October 5th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
Great post Kevin! As someone who loves lots of different fonts – I really agree that readability needs to be considered when choosing which one to use. Some of the more creative/artist fonts can add a great touch to emphasize a point or to highlight a title/heading. Used selectively they can add dimension vs create a headache
.
Elaine